West Virginia Capitol
The last in the long series of domes beaux-arts state capitols built in America, this late work of the distinguished architect Cass Gilbert, assisted by his son, is notable for its restrained neo-classical style and the majestic scale of its Renaissance dome. It equals the best of the state capitols in the quality of its materials and workmanship. Always used as capitol.
Glenwood was built in 1850-1852 in the Greek Revival style by William Preston for James Madison Laidley, a local notable, who named the house for a nearby deep rock-strewn glen cut by a stream where Matthews Avenue now runs. Glenwood is significant both as an original example of the best of Charleston's early houses and because it is associated with a number of important local personages, including its first two owners, James Madison Laidley and George W. Summers, who played major roles in the history of the Kanawha Valley and West Virginia. Glenwood was entered in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 as the Laidley-Summers-Quarrier House.
The structure is reputed to have been built in 1803 as a dwelling for Joseph Ruffner and to have been altered and elaborated into a clapboarded house in 1827 for Joel Ruffner. The property was called Rosedale at that time. The house is said to be the oldest extant dwelling in Kanawha County. Its original site was on Kanawha Boulevard in Charleston.
Sunrise is a large-scaled neo-Georgian mansion built for William A. MacCorkle (1857-1930), the ninth Governor of West Virginia. It is highly unusual because of the souvenir stones collected by MacCorkle and installed as part of the fabric of the house. Among prominent guests entertained at Sunrise; Adlai Stevenson, Vice-President under Cleveland; and Wm. Jennings Bryan.